“The Biggest in the World—Naturally:” The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (Pt II) (February 28, 2026)

by Scott Sosebee

This continues the series on the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

       When James Sartwelle and the organizers of the first Houston Fat Show (“Fat Stock” was the common name for such events in the day) tallied their receipts and counted heads after their first show in 1932, they found mixed results. It had generated some notice as it received some nice coverage in the local newspapers and over 2,000 people had attended, which was more than Sartwelle had projected. However, cost overruns meant that the show lost almost $3,000. At a debriefing meeting following the event, some of the original organizers voiced concerns about continuing, but Sartwelle convinced them to proceed.

       The Houston Fat Stock Show held shows for the next four years, and while attendance did not boom it also did not lag. It had not yet reached the expanse or notoriety of the Fort Worth or even the State Fair show, but it had grown to be the largest such showing in the eastern half of the state. It was an event that the stockmen anticipated attending, but it was not drawing great interest from the general public, despite the fact that admission—which was twenty-five cents—came with a free bar-b-que dinner. Part of the problem was certainly that the city and state were in the midst of the Great Depression, but perhaps more off-putting was the location. Sam Houston Hall was essentially a temporary structure in downtown built to host the 1928 Democratic National Convention. The totally wooden structure was drafty, rambling, and—frankly—a fire hazard waiting to happen. The city of Houston finally decided to replace the dilapidated building in 1936. They tore it down and, in its place, built the Sam Houston Coliseum, a state-of-the-art 10,000-seat arena.

       The construction of the coliseum meant that the Fat Stock Show had to cancel in 1937. The organizers grew concerned that absence would not make the heart grow fonder, so they believed that they needed to make a splash, something to draw attention to the returning 1938 event. They planned an event that would be twice the size as previous incarnations, but most significantly they added two more exhibitions, ones that would become a staple and feature of the Houston Livestock Show. First, to kick-off the Show they organized a parade through downtown Houston that featured marching bands, trucks, and—of course—horses. Lots and lots of horses. To take advantage of the size of the grounds of the coliseum, the 1938 show also added a carnival and a midway that patrons could enjoy. The parade and attractions were a nice touch and certainly sparked attention, but the most significant development in the 1938 event was the addition of a rodeo. The organizers brought in the best professional performers of the day and they competed in five events with a total purse of $640.50. The Houston Rodeo has since grown to be the biggest rodeo in the world, and the highlight of the early Pro Rodeo Series.  The growth in size, the rodeo and attractions, combined with the novelty of the brand-new arena, and likely the growing recovery from the Depression, proved to be a prescient choice as attendance almost tripled.

       Now known as the Houston Fat Stock Show and Rodeo, the event continued to innovate every year. It added musical entertainment in 1940, both on the Midway and at the Rodeo. It reached another milestone when “singing cowboy star” Gene Autry performed at three shows in the interim periods of the rodeo. Viewing and hearing Autry—for just the price of an admission ticket—was a boon for the Show’s visitors. It is also a feature that the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo not only innovated: while some rodeos before certainly had entertainment, none included such name-brand, high quality ones such as Autry, who was one of the biggest stars of the era. The addition of such an extra event—a “perk” of attendance, if you will—first added to the Houston show would grow to be a staple of almost every rodeo in the nation.

       The post World War II era, which was an era of spectacular growth and increase in the fortunes of the city of Houston, did not follow the same pattern for the Houston Fat Stock Show and Rodeo. Attendance, and profits, decreased each year through the early 1950s, and the establishment of the San Antonio Fat Stock Show in that city in 1950 seemed to zap some of the Houston event’s momentum. When attendance to the 1951 event was the lowest in a decade, the directors of the event decided it needed another innovation. One of the growing factors in the growth of the popularity of stock shows and rodeos through the post-war years was the emphasis these events placed on the glorification of the “cowboy image.” Westerns were the most popular form of motion pictures, cowboy iconography was becoming the very symbol of the United States, and boots, hats, and belts the almost accepted “uniform” of many Americans. To capitalize on that, the Houston Fat Stock Show and Rodeo, in 1952, began what would grow to become one of their most popular, and certainly most visible, additions—the trail drive. From an idea by Archer Romero, the Fat Stock Show directors began a 75-mile cattle drive from Brenham to the grounds of the Stock Show. They were followed by not only multiple print media journalists, but also reporters from the growing medium of television. Words can generate interest, but nothing gains notice like pictures. Especially moving pictures.

       To some extent, the trail drive marked a turning point for the Show. It was something unique, something no other stock show or rodeo had. The next year, the Salt Grass Association sponsored the drive and other areas and smaller horse-trail groups in the state began to organize their own treks to Houston in the next few years. Archer Romero—the father of the drive—took over as president of the Fat Stock Show in 1954 and he began the Go Texan Committee that started the Go Texan Day, which encouraged all Houstonians to dress in western wear on the opening day of the Show. Houston was becoming a “center” of cowboy culture. The Houston Fat Stock Show and Rodeo would become the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 1961, but more importantly, another era in the show was about to make it take leaps and bounds ahead. The Astrodome Era was about to commence.

Next Week: The opening of the Astrodome vaults the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo into a new stratosphere.

The East Texas Historical Association provides this column as a public service. Scott Sosebee the Executive Director of the Association and can be contacted at sosebeem@sfasu.edu or via www.easttexashistorical.org.